Acne Care Online RCT
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Acne Care Online: feasibility and full-scale RCT with internal pilot of online intervention to support acne self-management
IRAS ID
330774
Contact name
Miriam Santer
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 3 months, 1 days
Research summary
Can a new website help people manage their acne effectively and improve outcomes?
Background:
Acne is very common and can cause many side effects. Treatment of acne is a major cause of antibiotic use amongst young people. Evidence suggests that topical treatments (creams or gels applied directly to the skin) should be the main treatments for acne. Effective topical treatments are available from pharmacies without prescription, but many people are unaware and buy cosmetic products that don’t help.Study design:
We’ve developed a new website to help young people manage acne more effectively, including information on obtaining effective treatments, promoting regular treatment use, and avoiding side effects. We will test the website in a trial to see whether it improves outcomes and reduces long-term oral antibiotic use.What’s involved?
People with acne (13-25 years) will be invited to take part from GP practices, pharmacies, community and social media advertising, and schools and partner organisations. Participants will be asked to register online, complete online consent and questionnaires before being allocated by chance to either the new study website, or the control group. All participants will be able to access their usual health care during the study. Participants will be asked to complete questionnaires about their acne, quality of life and use of acne treatments at 12, 24, 36 and 52 weeks. The control group will be signposted to standard NHS acne advice and offered access to the new website after 52 weeks follow-up.Potential benefits
We’ll explore how the website works by talking to those that have used it, consider the costs to the NHS and estimate value for money. We’ll publish this work in peer-reviewed journals, conferences and via patient organisations. If effective, we aim to make the website freely available and signpost and endorse its use amongst young people.REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/NW/0323
Date of REC Opinion
22 Nov 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion